All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
When physicians are performing procedures on or around certain areas of the body such as the spinal cord, brain, and joints, very precise, controlled, and stable manipulations are often required to avoid patient injury and to optimize outcome. There is a need in the art for apparatuses and methods that will improve the safety and accuracy of performing certain medical procedures in those areas.
More specifically, certain medical procedures performed by physicians are associated with especially high risks of accidental patient injury and/or treatment failure, due to a combination of the nature of the tissues involved in the procedure, the high degree of accuracy demanded by the procedure, limitations of existing surgical instruments (including stabilizing apparatuses), limitations associated with the field of view, and human error. In order to increase the likelihood of a favorable outcome, a number of attempts have been made to improve upon the stabilizing apparatuses used in conjunction with a number of medical instruments for a variety of different surgical procedures, including those involving the introduction of a substance into or removal of a substance from a delicate area of a patient's body. Exemplary stabilizing apparatuses known in the art include the Spinal Derrick, the Warner Device, and the Brundobler Device. Unfortunately, these devices are all either difficult to use (requiring a large amount of physician training), have an excessive part count (thereby carrying a relatively high risk of equipment failure or patient injury), or have significant problems related to positioning. For example the Spinal Derrick device used for spinal surgery comprises over 50 parts, making its assembly long and difficult, and leading to an increased risk of one of its parts falling into the incision and causing spinal cord trauma. Additionally, this device lacks accurate scales, and requires the use of four percutaneous posts that are placed “blindly,” further increasing the risk of spinal cord injury, infection, and bleeding (partly due to the four additional incisions required).